The glass cage: automation and us

In this philosophical treatise on man and machine, noted technology writer Carr, author of The Shallows (CH, Nov'10, 48-1521), investigates the effects of technology on the human condition. While conceding to the undeniable benefits of automation in helping people to live longer, healthier, cleaner, and safer lives, Carr warns that humanity also pays a price for such luxury and efficiency. Hidden within our inheritance of ever-advancing technological change are latent and unintentional consequences that damage our perceptions and limit our choices. He posits that these consequences are so great that they counteract the good that technology offers. In attempting to prove his theory, he reviews and reinterprets a broad and diverse spectrum of moments in technological history. The author also draws on a wide range of Western thinkers, including Karl Marx, René Descartes, Plato, Adam Smith, George Dyson, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Frost, to assist him in presenting his view that technology should be adapted to the human condition and not, as he asserts is happening everywhere, the other way around. Those familiar with the historians, writers, technologists, and economists mentioned will gain additional insight through Carr's penetrating analysis of human experiences like flow, proprioception, focus, and complacency. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --Susan M. Frey, Indiana State University

*Starred Review* Carr's last book, the best-selling The Shallows (2010), probed the alarming downsides of widespread Internet usage. Moving along similar lines, his latest work looks at the perils of automation and argues that the added convenience provided by mechanization and computerization comes at the risk of weakening our mental and physical dexterity. Carr begins by recounting the experimental success of the computer-operated Google car, which so far has passed every city and highway driving test with flying colors. For Carr, this sci-fi dream-come-true inspires a sober discussion of the degeneration effect, whereby commercial pilots' overuse of autopilot controls has led to such a dangerous erosion of skills that airlines are now enforcing more manual flight time. Even in desk jobs, Carr points out, a growing dependence on computers amplifies the probability, as it did during the recent banking and home loan scandals, that humans will make the wrong decisions. Carr brilliantly and scrupulously explores all the psychological and economic angles of our increasingly problematic reliance on machinery and microchips to manage almost every aspect of our lives. A must-read for software engineers and technology experts in all corners of industry as well as everyone who finds himself or herself increasingly dependent on and addicted to gadgets.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2014 Booklist

This sweeping analysis from journalist Carr (The Shallows) outlines the various implications of automation in our everyday lives. He asks whether automating technology is always beneficial, or if we are unwittingly rendering ourselves superfluous and ineffectual, and cites examples where both might be the case, such as fatal plane crashes attributed to an overreliance on autopilot; the deskilling of architects and doctors caused by occupational software; and the adverse mental effects of GPS. When Carr broaches the dangers of technology, his otherwise nuanced insight tends towards hyperbole: "Automaticity is the inscription the world leaves on the active mind and the active self. Know-how is the evidence of the richness of that inscription." However, the more pertinent issue that he highlights is the way automation changes our world view through subtly altering our daily interactions with our surroundings. The book manages to be engaging, informative, and elicits much needed reflection on the philosophical and ethical implications of over-reliance on automation. Carr deftly incorporates hard research and historical developments with philosophy and prose to depict how technology is changing the way we live our lives and the world we find ourselves in. Agent: John Brockman, Brockman Inc. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Serious technophobic exploration of the dangers of machines superseding the role of humans in the workforce.Technology journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Carr (The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, 2010, etc.), the former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, is on a selfless mission to warn humanity about the dangers of robots and computers making human beings obsolete in the world of work. Although the book is certainly more than a Luddite tirade about the increasing subservience of humans to the machines they manufacture, the authors arguments can sometimesventure into paranoiac territory, seemingly more for shock value than anything else. But his core argumentthat mans own mental faculties, natural instincts and vital creativity are being dulled by dependence on machinesis well-argued, and he cites more than a few compelling instances in which this technological dependency has proved fatale.g., pilots overly accustomed to flying on computerized autopilot who, when forced to act manually, freeze up and make costly mistakes in otherwise routine situations. Carr also takes a critical look at the potential problems and contradictions inherent in new technology, such as Google Glass, designed to allow tech geeks to stay connected with cyberspace without becoming alienated from their surroundings while constantly checking text messages and such. The author proposes that human beings must take a more dominant and less dependent role in how computer technology is being implemented in society and not be mindlessly carried along by a blind faith in technological advancementa task probably much easier said than done.An important if occasionally overbearing study of how machines are making us less human and what we can do about it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Carr's last book, the best-selling The Shallows (2010), probed the alarming downsides of widespread Internet usage. Moving along similar lines, his latest work looks at the perils of automation and argues that the added convenience provided by mechanization and computerization comes at the risk of weakening our mental and physical dexterity. Carr begins by recounting the experimental success of the computer-operated Google car, which so far has passed every city and highway driving test with flying colors. For Carr, this sci-fi dream-come-true inspires a sober discussion of "the degeneration effect," whereby commercial pilots' overuse of autopilot controls has led to such a dangerous erosion of skills that airlines are now enforcing more manual flight time. Even in desk jobs, Carr points out, a growing dependence on computers amplifies the probability, as it did during the recent banking and home loan scandals, that humans will make the wrong decisions. Carr brilliantly and scrupulously explores all the psychological and economic angles of our increasingly problematic reliance on machinery and microchips to manage almost every aspect of our lives. A must-read for software engineers and technology experts in all corners of industry as well as everyone who finds himself or herself increasingly dependent on and addicted to gadgets. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Having explored technology's impact on our thought processes in the Pulitzer finalist The Shallows, Carr extends the argument.

This sweeping analysis from journalist Carr (The Shallows) outlines the various implications of automation in our everyday lives. He asks whether automating technology is always beneficial, or if we are unwittingly rendering ourselves superfluous and ineffectual, and cites examples where both might be the case, such as fatal plane crashes attributed to an overreliance on autopilot; the deskilling of architects and doctors caused by occupational software; and the adverse mental effects of GPS. When Carr broaches the dangers of technology, his otherwise nuanced insight tends towards hyperbole: "Automaticity is the inscription the world leaves on the active mind and the active self. Know-how is the evidence of the richness of that inscription." However, the more pertinent issue that he highlights is the way automation changes our world view through subtly altering our daily interactions with our surroundings. The book manages to be engaging, informative, and elicits much needed reflection on the philosophical and ethical implications of over-reliance on automation. Carr deftly incorporates hard research and historical developments with philosophy and prose to depict how technology is changing the way we live our lives and the world we find ourselves in. Agent: John Brockman, Brockman Inc. (Sept.)